Summoned with an SSS-Rank Portal Skill

Before the fight, Rena and the adventurer thought they would be the ones to help William deal with that golem, since they only had a few zombies to deal with—a much easier fight.

But things didn't quite go that way. William was the one who finished his fight first, which was honestly pretty impressive.

The adventurer, who had still been toying with the idea of escaping the moment William was distracted or not looking—well, that idea had completely vanished from his mind after watching William handle the golem with such ease.

"He took down that golem without even using his transformation, and even after getting hit like that, he looks completely healed… This guy isn't normal," he thought.

No sane person would try to go against William after witnessing that.

Anyway, William helped them finish off the remaining zombies—creatures that were laughably easy compared to the golem. Fighting those weak things actually felt strange to him.

"Let's keep moving," William said after the last zombie fell to the ground, dead.

He wanted to press on—not get stuck in the same place. That wasn't going to help anyone.

More zombies would keep showing up if they stayed still, and the castle—their objective—wasn't getting any closer. So there was no benefit in wasting time.

Rena and the other adventurer felt the same way, so they moved forward.

"How's your arm?" Rena asked, glancing at William's left arm.

She had seen the moment he took that powerful hit and even heard the sickening crack of the bone. But she also saw him using that same arm to punch the golem just minutes later.

William reassured her. "I'm fine," he said. "It's already healed, so no need to worry."

The adventurer, standing nearby, overheard the conversation—and was even more stunned. He couldn't understand how William's arm had healed in just a matter of minutes. It was something he'd never seen before.

Of course, he didn't say a word about what he was thinking. He was so afraid of William at this point that he just wanted to stay quiet and obedient—hoping that maybe, just maybe, that would help him get out of this alive.

*

On the way to the castle, more creatures showed up to fight them. Most were the same type of zombies they'd already faced. At one point, another golem appeared, but this time William was ready—and managed to take it down without suffering any significant injuries.

And after a few hours walking through the city, they finally reached the castle they had seen from afar. That was the place where they hoped to find the portal to the next floor of the dungeon.

"It has to be here," Rena said as they stopped in front of the castle. "I can feel a different kind of aura coming from this place."

Everyone felt it. And they all knew this place was definitely dangerous. Not just anyone would be able to explore that place and live to tell the tale.

"Let's go," William said.

To reach the castle doors, they had to climb a long staircase. The steps were made of the same black bricks that covered the rest of the castle.

With each step, it felt like the castle's oppressive aura grew stronger. William stayed alert, watching for any strange movement around them—but he didn't see a single creature.

Eventually, they stood before the castle doors. From a distance, the doors looked smaller, but now, up close, it was clear just how massive they were.

They had to be at least 20 meters tall—double doors with no handles, no locks, and no kind of opening mechanism that looked remotely familiar.

"How do we open this thing?" the adventurer asked.

He tried pushing the door, but nothing happened. Rena looked all over the surface of the doors, trying to figure out how they were supposed to get in.

William decided to push the doors using all his strength—and to his surprise, it worked. The doors opened.

"Why didn't it open when I pushed it?" the adventurer asked.

William let out a small laugh. "You're just lacking strength, my friend. Once we leave this place, make sure to train hard."

Of course, the adventurer took the joke without saying a single word in return. He wasn't stupid.

Anyway, what awaited them inside was a corridor. But not just any corridor—this one was huge. Much wider and taller than normal, as if the castle had been built for giants or something like that.

All the furniture was massive too. Even the paintings on the walls were gigantic. William felt like an ant in that place.

"What a strange place," Rena said as she looked around. "I've never seen anything like this before. Are we sure the portal is actually here?"

As much as everything pointed to the portal being somewhere inside, they still felt a little uneasy about the possibility of having explored all this, spent hours, only to end up in the wrong place.

Not to mention that strange aura they kept feeling inside the castle—it could easily be something dangerous. In fact, the chances of it being dangerous were way higher than it being anything good for them…

They moved slowly through the corridor. The place was so large that even while trying not to make a sound, their footsteps still echoed loudly.

"Everything's so far apart and oversized that even just walking around causes an echo," William said. "I don't think sneaking around is gonna work in here."

"I agree," Rena said. "At least there don't seem to be any monsters."

There weren't yet. But William wasn't naive enough to believe that a massive castle like this, radiating that weird aura, wouldn't have something lurking inside, ready to kill them.

If the portal to the next floor was indeed here, then there was probably a boss monster waiting for them somewhere. And that alone was more than enough of a threat.

Anyway, they kept walking through the castle, looking for anything remotely useful or interesting. It didn't take long for William to find something.

It was a painting on the wall. Rena and the adventurer looked at it and assumed it was something magical—maybe a fantasy city, something imaginary. But William knew exactly what he was looking at.

It was a painting of a real city from Earth. Which meant, once again, he was finding more clues about the people who had created this dungeon.

He even had the urge to check that phone he'd found earlier. Actually, the urge was pretty strong now.

Part of the reason was that he'd felt it vibrate recently, which meant someone was sending messages. He wanted to check them before they were deleted.

"I think we should split up," he said. "This place is huge. It's gonna take us forever to explore it together."

Rena looked a little worried. "Are you sure? I'm not sure splitting up is a good idea. I don't trust that guy."

She didn't even bother hiding how she felt. William, on the other hand, did trust the guy.

He walked over to the adventurer and said, "You're going to explore with her. And if you try anything funny, I'll torture you, find out where your family and friends are, and kill them all. I'm pretty sure you understand that, right?"

"Y-Yes, I'm not an idiot. Don't worry—I'll keep her safe. I just want to get out of here alive," the adventurer stammered.

William turned and smiled at Rena. "See? He's on board. If anything happens, come find me."

In the end, they split up. And William used that moment of solitude to check the messages that had just come through on the phone...